We're Jason, Beth, Lee Anna, Sawyer, and Sarah Claire, a family of five living, learning, and laughing lots in Northern Africa. We hope you can learn a little (and maybe laugh a little too) as you read about our latest adventures.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Birthday Week 2010

We've had fun celebrating our girls around here this week. With their birthdays just separated by one day, it looks like the middle of June is always going to be a big time for our family!

Instead of one big party, Lee Anna had several smaller celebrations for her birthday this year. First, we had two of her good friends come spend the night last weekend. Their family is going to be spending the rest of the year in the states, so all four kids were glad to have one more play day before they left.

Lee Anna made the birthday crown she's wearing above about a month ago and has been saving it for her big day. We spread out the presents that she had received from grandparents and other relatives, so that every few hours she got to open another one. All of the kids got excited when it was "present time!" They loved decorating (and eating!) their star cookies on a stick!

Later we got to have some other friends over, and there were a few more presents to open. That's also when we ate her birthday cake (pictured at the top). Lee Anna chose the colors and design, and Aunt Claire made it happen!

On the day in between the girls' birthdays, we took a little mini-vacation to a nearby hotel with a great swimming pool, wave pool, and kids' water play area.

We stayed until the kids were wrinkled up like little prunes and completely worn out. It was wonderful!

Sarah Claire loved the water--and the ice cream!

So that's how we celebrated our firstborn's birthday this year. Stay tuned for pictures of Sarah Claire turning one!